Chennai Super Kings Summon Urvil Patel For Mid-Season Trials: Report
Urvil Patel made the headlines when he smacked a 28-ball century in the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the fastest by an Indian batter in the format.
Chennai Super Kings, who were on Wednesday eliminated from IPL 2025 after suffering their eighth loss in 10 games, have reportedly called up Gujarat wicketkeeper-batter Urvil Patel for mid-season trials, as revealed by former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer.
The sudden callup despite their season close to a disastrous end indicates the beginning of a probable succession planning in the Chennai core group amidst an embarrassing campaign.
Jaffer mentioned that he heard through sources about Urvil being called for a trial in the back half of the season.
'I've heard, I've got back room news that CSK have called Urvil Patel, the guy who got a couple of hundreds in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I'm surprised that he was not picked by any franchise," Jaffer said while speaking on ESPNCricinfo.
'I was surprised. Even Ayush Mhatre was picked ahead of him. He's been asked to trial there, so I don't know what's cooking there," Jaffer added.
Chennai signed Mhatre as Ruturaj Gaikwad's replacement after asking the teenager to give a trial during the season itself.
Chennai were eliminated from the Indian Premier League playoff race on Wednesday when they lost to the Punjab Kings, their eighth loss in 10 outings.
Riding on the late four-wicket haul from Yuzvendra Chahal (4/32), including a hat-trick, Punjab bowled out Chennai for 190, and despite a little stumbling towards the end, the visitors got over the line with two deliveries to spare, scoring 194/6.
Punjab have moved up to second in the table with 13 points while Chennai are on 10th with just four points and their improbable play-off hopes too were eliminated with this result.
Prabhsimran Singh had a narrow escape while attempting a reverse sweep off Ravindra Jadeja, as the ball crashed into his pads in front of the wickets.
But the on-field umpire's call of not out stayed even as Chennai sought DRS intervention, which they don't get wrong very often, with Dhoni behind the stumps.
Besides the former India captain, CSK have the services of Vansh Bedi and Devon Conway as wicketkeeper-batters and hence it is a bit unusual to now call up Urvil for a similar role.
First Published:
May 01, 2025, 12:48 IST
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